The Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington hired its first K-12 curriculum and instruction specialist in August, part of an expansion of the organization’s education department and an observed uptick in curricular issues, according to JCRC.
A longtime educator and Gaithersburg resident, Sheila Berlinger works with JCRC’s education and government relations teams to ensure that public school educational materials regarding Jewish identity, Israel history and antisemitism are balanced and accurate. She assesses curriculum-related legislation and regulations that particularly impact Jewish students, and helps design customized training programs for local teachers and school administrators.
Working alongside Guila Franklin Siegel, JCRC’s chief operating officer, and Sara Winkelman, director of education programs and services, Berlinger will serve as a “direct resource for districts and schools, down to the teacher for support, implementation, questions and answers,” Berlinger told Washington Jewish Week, adding that she’ll also serve as a resource for parents.
She sees her role as a coach, partner, resource provider and advocate. “Our students need to feel safe. They need to feel seen,” Berlinger said.
Berlinger will also work with Winkelman and JCRC’s government relations directors to critically evaluate introduced bills covering everything from mandated teacher training to bills that discuss Holocaust education. She will provide input to legislators and their staffers about the legislation’s potential impact on Jewish stakeholders.
The last time JCRC expanded its department was soon after Oct. 7, 2023, when the agency was “inundated” with antisemitic incident responses, Franklin Siegel said.
“We are still continuing to see a significant number of antisemitic incidents, but in addition to that, we have, over the last year, seen an increase in the demands for us to respond directly to curriculum and lack of teacher training,” she said.
JCRC staff have seen assignments and curricular revisions across local districts that “raise red flags” in terms of how Jewish history, antisemitism, the Holocaust and the Middle East are approached in classrooms.
One example came during an English class reading and discussion of the Spanish Golden Age.
“That’s a good opportunity to talk about the Jewish Renaissance during that period, to talk about Maimonides, to talk about Muslim-Jewish relations during that period,” Franklin Siegel said. “That’s an example where we had a parent come to us, and we were able to provide that feedback to the school system.”
One “red flag” is a high school environmental science assignment that asked students to “discuss how Israel is responsible for environmental degradation in Gaza at the height of the war,” according to Franklin Siegel, which she said is “problematic on many levels.”
“We felt we needed to deepen our bench in terms of the expertise that we bring to this space, with reference to curriculum development [and] implementation, professional development for educators and classroom instruction,” Franklin Siegel explained.
Franklin Siegel is an attorney by training and Winkelman is a licensed social worker.
“And it is just perfect for us to have now a seasoned educator who has decades of experience in the classroom, in central office — so administration in the development and implementation of curriculum — and in professional development, and also somebody who is deeply steeped in Jewish leadership and who understands the challenges facing Jewish students and educators,” Franklin Siegel said.
Berlinger brings 33 years of experience working for Montgomery County Public Schools.
For the past decade, Berlinger worked in MCPS’ central office, rolling out new curricula on the MCPS schedule in alignment with the Maryland State Department of Education.
“That experience alone allows me to reflect on where successes can be grown and where challenges can be mitigated — sometimes headed off before they become challenges,” Berlinger said.
“Challenges” refer to instances in which Jewish identity or history is either not taught in the classroom, it’s inaccurate or it’s lacking context, according to Franklin Siegel.
“I would say unequivocally, school leaders and teachers want to do what’s right for children and families. Sometimes they don’t know what to do. Sometimes they’re afraid to take a step without reinforcement to know that their instincts are actually correct,” Berlinger said.
“But if they know they have somebody to whom they can turn, who is an expert on both avoiding pitfalls and responding and improving classroom instruction and management, so that Jewish students are ultimately safer, and the learning is fair and balanced, and doesn’t uniquely harm Jewish students, then we’re better off,” Franklin Siegel said.
Berlinger had just decided to retire from MCPS when she became aware of this part-time position.
She worked alongside JCRC for several years through the Montgomery County Jewish Educators Alliance, which is how she first met Franklin Siegel and Winkelman.
“I have been deeply connected to the Jewish community in a variety of capacities since I was young,” Berlinger said. “In a lot of different ways, I’ve been very committed to Jewish communal service.”
Berlinger served as president of Shaare Torah in Gaithersburg from 2018 to 2020 and as a BBYO council director.
She emphasized that her new role is a way to blend two of her passions: supporting the Jewish community and improving classroom education.
“It really brings those two things together,” Berlinger said.
zbell@midatlanticmedia.com
